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<title>Sometimes Silence Is Worse by smashedglassglitteringlikestars</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27102151">Sometimes Silence Is Worse</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/smashedglassglitteringlikestars/pseuds/smashedglassglitteringlikestars'>smashedglassglitteringlikestars</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman &amp; Terry Pratchett</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Candles, Crowley as a Snake, Darkness, Fluffy Ending, Happy Ending, Lightning - Freeform, Other, Rain, Short Story, Soft Ending, Suspense, being alone, big spooky fan me, heavy breathing, storming, unexplained noises</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-09 04:40:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>500</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27102151</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/smashedglassglitteringlikestars/pseuds/smashedglassglitteringlikestars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aziraphale gets spooked in the shop.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aziraphale &amp; Crowley (Good Omens)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>SOSH - Guess the Author #7 "Big Spooky Fan Me."</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Sometimes Silence Is Worse</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For the Soft Omens Snuggle House Guess the Author Event, Round 7: Big Spooky Fan, Me!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It was a dark and stormy night, and rain pelted the bookshop’s windows; not a person was lingering outside. It would have been </span>
  <em>
    <span>nice</span>
  </em>
  <span>, if not for the strikes of lightning creating fluttering cracks in the ominous clouds. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Inside, the electricity was out - but Aziraphale didn’t notice. It was cold, as it always was in Soho, and instead of stoking a fire, he had decided to light candles. One sat on the windowsill by the entryway, another upon the central table, and the last upon the table closest to his reading nook, which was currently a velvet, high-backed chair in the back room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The building was old - ancient, even - and it creaked and groaned as the weight of the flooding water filled its gutters. And it distracted the angel from reading. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Would you please be quiet? This is a </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dickens</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The structure seemed to fulfill the request, and all the sound that was left was the rain against glass, against the puddled sidewalk. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Somehow, this made it worse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Aziraphale rarely breathed, but when he did, he didn’t like to be reminded of it. But now he was, with each breath getting louder as the outside world followed a coordinated decrescendo. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a dash of movement, and slammed down the book to break the layered silence with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>slap</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yet, all it was, he thought, was the flicker of the candle by the door. Which was odd, considering there wasn’t a draft. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His eyes narrowed as he waited a beat, then went back to scanning where he left off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time, lightning suddenly struck a street sign just on the other side where that seedy theatre did business, and Aziraphale nearly tossed his book across the shop. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m</span>
  </em>
  <span> the one supposed to do the smiting…” he grumbled, and found himself searching the room for movement as he swallowed down a growing lump in his throat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Again, silence was the enemy, which only made him just about jump out of his skin as a book he swore he set flat on the table fell with a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bang </span>
  </em>
  <span>to the floor. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gabriel? Is that you? No need with the theatrics…” Then again, he doubted Gabriel was smart enough for them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>While Aziraphale reached for the candle beside him, a slimy noise made itself known under the chair, and he froze. Perhaps, a toad had gotten lost, or an errant worm had escaped the flood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But then, </span>
  <em>
    <span>then</span>
  </em>
  <span>, with a grip as strong as a grown man’s grasp, it wound itself around his ankle and slithered up his leg, making the fabric cling to his skin with moisture. A long </span>
  <em>
    <span>hiss </span>
  </em>
  <span>followed, and Aziraphale was counting his lucky stars that it was only a </span>
  <em>
    <span>snake </span>
  </em>
  <span>curling up in his lap. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Angel…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Crowley, you’re positively </span>
  <em>
    <span>freezing</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Drove with the windowsss down.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my </span>
  <em>
    <span>dear…</span>
  </em>
  <span>” the angel cooed in thought. “You can stay here for the rest of the night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Read to me</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course, dear. Of course.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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